April is here and spring has arrived. This was apparent when we went to the Alfred Maclay Gardens, north of Tallahassee. The azaleas, irises, dogwoods, and camellias were in full bloom. It is difficult for us to believe that we have been in Florida for four months. Looking at our highlighted map shows that we have been up and down both coasts, seen the Keys and the Everglades, and up to the Big Bend area. Adding where we have visited in Florida during the winters of 2007/2008 and 2008/2009, we have seen most of Florida quite well. This season we accomplished our goal of not repeating too much, but rather seeing new places and having different experiences. We were surprised at how many relatives and friends were in Florida this winter and we tried to see them all.
Last blog found us heading for the Gulf coast. On the way we visited Pat’s relatives in Lakeland who took us to Bok Tower in central Florida. The carillon tower is 150 feet tall and is housed on a large estate filled with gardens of blooming azaleas and camellias, filled with walking paths through the gardens. On the property is the highest elevation in Florida – 298 feet! In that area we saw fresh citrus being picked, strawberries on the vine, flowers starting to bloom, and the sweet fragrance of orange blossoms will always be associated with our winter times in Florida.
In December we had stayed right on the beach in Venice and now returned just north of there for camping at Oscar Scherer State Park. There is a bike path there that goes between Sarasota and Venice and we found it quite delightful to get around and to see wildlife. Wetlands were very near our campsite, so we enjoyed seeing/hearing squawking sandhill cranes in flight, a bald eagle in flight, lots of black vultures (endangered), a short-tailed hawk, a swallow-tailed kite, ospreys, a wood stork, among lots of other birds. At our campsite the songbirds were fantastic and the cardinals made a regular appearance. The cardinals are definitely in mating season here. The bright red male has been pecking the rear view mirrors on our car and also at our stainless steel percolator [to fight off perceived competitors?] and he keeps chasing the brownish color female everywhere.
We then went to rentals right on the beach on Anna Maria Island and on Pass-a-Grille (South St Pete Beach). Pass-a-Grille is a strange name and we learned that the name came from French pirates from Louisiana coming to Spanish Florida/Tampa for raids. They were trying to sneak into Tampa Bay, but the island always had Spanish fisherman on it where they were grilling their catch. So the French called it Grillers’ Pass or Passe aux Guilliers, which became Pass-a-Grille.
The St Petersburg Pier located at the Bayfront has been deemed obsolete and in so much need of repair that it is soon to be torn down (May) and will be replaced by a modern landmark pier called the “Lens” by 2015. We visited it one last time, eating at the always excellent Columbia Restaurant located there, which will be relocated to a new spot just off the pier. Near the pier is a statue of a newsboy when the St Pete Independent gave free newspapers on the days the sun did not shine in St Pete. They did this from 1910 thru 1985 and had to give out free papers only 295 times in 75 years.
We are always glad to see places becoming more bike-friendly. There is a new rail-to-trails bike path that extends from St Pete to Tarpon Springs. This makes moving up and down the peninsula much easier then facing the congested traffic located there. On the western Gulf coast of Florida, we enjoyed collecting shells, watching golden sunsets over the water, identifying shorebirds, discovering waterfront restaurants, watching the playful dolphins, and watching pelicans, limpkins, egrets, herons, ospreys, eagles, ibis, willets, sandpipers and gulls feed in the abundance of food in the waters. It was difficult however, to jog, exercise, or do yoga with the laughing gulls around and not take it personally!
The State song of Florida is “Old Folks at Home” [aka “Way Down Upon the Swanee River”] so we checked it out. The Suwannee River is mostly in Florida and runs for 246 miles from the Okefenokee Swamp GA to the Gulf of Mexico, separating peninsular Florida from the panhandle. The Suwannee River is a wild blackwater river, which are found only in the Amazon and Southern US. Blackwater rivers run clear, but are the color of coffee due to the tannins leaching in from the swampland vegetation. This difference was abundantly clear when we saw the difference in color at the confluence of the Suwannee (clear and black) and the Withlacooche (muddier and tan) Rivers. The rivers had a distinct marbling look as if one was mixing chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Situated on the banks of the legendary Suwannee River is the Stephen Foster Folk Center Cultural State Park. This center honors the memory of American composer Stephen Foster, who wrote "Old Folks at Home," the Florida State song that made the river famous. He wrote over 200 songs, many with Southern themes, even though he was not a Southerner. Others you probably know are “My Old Kentucky Home”, “Oh Susannah”, and “Camptown Races.”
Pensacola was settled by the Spanish in 1559. It was the first European settlement in the United States. It was a rival to St. Augustine on the Atlantic settled in 1565 on the other side of the state. Pensacola was the capital of West Florida territory (settled by Alabamans) and St Augustine was the capital of East Florida Territory (settled by Georgians). When Florida became a territory in 1821, there were two capitals and the Government held sessions alternately in each one. Growing tired of all that cumbersome travel, they decided on a compromise and established Tallahassee (halfway in-between) as the capital. Tallahassee is currently still the State capital and home to Florida State University. This area has the fewest “Go Gators” bumper stickers of anywhere in the state. West of Tallahassee (“Florabama”), you are just as likely to see support for Alabama Crimson Tide or the Auburn Tigers as the Seminoles, and East of Tallahassee- “How about them Dawgs”.
South of Tallahassee is St Marks National Wildlife Refuge. It is here that a group of critically endangered whooping cranes [from the few left in the west] was introduced. Since they were introduced into Florida, they never learned to migrate and they are still led by an ultra-light plane from Florida to Wisconsin and back each year. We included a picture from the website for those of you who are not familiar with this or saw the 1996 movie Fly Away Home.
We now have “Georgia on our Minds” and are leaving Florida and the Gulf waters behind. What a great winter this has been for us.
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